The babies have been a part of Nevada Early Intervention since they were 4 months old. Because they were born 6 weeks premature they had a full evaluation with a Developmental Specialist at four months and at that time did not qualify for the program. Based on their scores they did qualify for the monitoring program. Once a quarter I would get questionnaires sent out for both babies with a ton of questions on how they are developing based on their adjusted age (the age they would be if they were born full term). The babies were never far enough behind in any area to qualify, but enough behind in communication and social development to qualify for another full evaluation.

Jeff and I took them today for their evaluation and I am happy and proud to say the babies did awesome. The Developmental Specialists were very happy with what they saw, said we were doing a fantastic job with all areas of learning, and closed out their files. We are no longer a part of the system and it feels great! The babies did so great - I was such a proud Mama. I was worried Shenzie would have anxiety over a strange place filled with strangers, but she got right in there and played, talked, interacted with the Specialists and didn’t cry once. Heaten also did wonderful. He played, did what was asked of him, and only had one tantrum. They passed all areas of development (still a little behind in communication, but not enough to worry about whatsoever). They want me to work on the babies two word phrases which I already do, but other than that we all got A++. Yippee!

Back when we started brushing the babies teeth it was a nightmare. Lots of screaming, crying, flailing about, kicking, rolling away, and yelling. They HATED to have their choppers brushed, and I really dreaded doing it. Inside my mouth is not pretty….I have horrible teeth (LOTS AND LOTS of fillings, 4 crowns with root canals, one extraction). I DO NOT want the babies to have any cavities and I want them to know how important it is to brush and floss (even though I never floss). True gross story. Before I met Jeff I didn’t brush my teeth at night. Ick, eww, gross! How sick was I?!? I am happy to say that he has shown me the error of my gross ways and I now brush 3x a day. I really do have good intentions to floss every single night, but by the time I get around to it my arms are just too tired to hold the floss. =) Ok, so enough gross Lesley, back to the babies.

The babies arsenal of toothbrushes

Brushing was NOT fun. I even posted for help on my forum and tried everything they suggested, but no luck. Toothpaste, new toothbrushes, bribery, singing, making it a game, yadda yadda. They were NOT having it. And then one day they liked it. We got these little cups that they could “dip” their brushes in and viola’, happy brushers.

And then after the initial fun of the cups wore off they didn’t like it anymore. Booo. And then we got new electric toothbrushes and they loved it again.

And then the initial fun of the buzzing wore off and they didn’t like it anymore. And then Daddy let them play with his brushes and now they love it again.

We’ll see just how long this lasts, but for now they LOVE to brush all the while saying Daddy, Daddy, Daddy because they are using his brushes. It is pretty cute to see their tiny little mouths with the GIANT adult sized brushes in them. They brush after lunch before their nap and before dinner. In between the real deal of brushing they carry the brushes around and chew on the end which is sort of like brushing. So they are brushing pretty much all day which suits me just fine!!! Each night Daddy takes over with the brushing of the teeth. He brushes their teeth with their electric toothbrushes with the promise that he’ll let them use his brushes after. Unlike Daddy, I draw the line at sharing my toothbrush! Sorry Charlies, back away from my brush!

We buy them in bulk now.

My little brushers

Dear Shenzie and Heaten,

This letter is over a week late in the writing, want to guess why?
A) Because you are both so much fun at this age that I can’t stand to be apart from you for even one second.
B) You are both so crazy I haven’t had time to write your letter.
C) A combination of A and B.
D) Your Mom was being lazy.

The correct answer would be C with a touch of D thrown in.

You are both so fun, so full of energy, so full of crazy that I haven’t had the time to sit and think of what I want to say to you. Each month you get more and more independent. More and more vocal. More and more curious about the world and all of the things in it. It is so amazing and fun to watch you learn new things, to watch you grow into little people. You are playing more independently now which is a very nice break for Mommy. You are still using sign language, but are adding new words all of the time.

We have a really good routine that involves playtime, singing time, story time, art time, outdoor time, and tv time. You love to watch Bindi the Jungle Girl and Signing Time the most. You’re both really getting into animals. You’ve always loved dogs, but now you’re branching out into all sorts of fun animals. Playtime consists of running around like lunatics on the couch. Running around the house like lunatics while I chase you. Playing in the sandbox. Playing in the garage with water. Playing on the patio with buckets of water. Water in general. Eating yogurt in the bathtub, making a HUGE mess, and then taking a bath. Playing hide and seek in your bedrooms. Hiding in the closets. Playing dress up with Mommy’s clothes. Art time consists of you eating crayons and coloring the bathtub walls with colored yogurt. Coloring with chalk outside is a new favorite. You color not only the floor, but Mommy’s car, her legs, your bellies, the house, Daddy’s car, and anything else you can find to destroy.

You’ll notice in most of the photos this month you either have no shirt on or no clothes on at all except for your diapers. For some reason Shenzie Bugs you have decided you don’t like to wear clothes anymore. Ever. It is a fight daily to get a shirt on you. The minute we get home you ask to take it off and of course Heaten copies you. So basically I have two naked kids running around all day, every day. Good thing we live in the desert where it is hot enough to melt you so clothing isn’t necessary. We play in the water all day long which makes clothing optional anyhow.

You have a love/dislike relationship. Some days you will kiss, hug, laugh, and play together so nice my heart just melts. Other days you will fight, push, hit, scratch, and even bite! Even though we have multiple toys that are the EXACT same you still fight over one toy. This usually involves Heaten stealing the toy from Shenzie and her retaliating with her little fists of fury. There isn’t a day that goes by that you don’t frustrate me and make my heart melt in the same five minutes with your constant love/dislike relationship. I am so happy you have each other and I know one day you’ll outgrow the constant fighting (hopefully) and be the very best of friends.

Dear Shenzie Buggle,

You are so very funny. While Heaten is funny unintentionally you will do things purposely to make me laugh. You are a silly, expressive, funny, fun, sweet, crazy, wonderful little girl. You are always on the go and rarely stop moving. You are always running somewhere…places to go, people to see! You still play “runny runny” and just run around the house. You love piggy backs from Mommy and will constantly pat your back saying ‘back back’. You love to dance, spin, run, climb, and jump. You don’t mind getting dirty and love to play in the sandbox.

Your new favorite is funny faces. Daddy makes funny monkey faces at you and you just laugh and laugh. All day while he is at work you will pull at your face wanting me to make funny faces, but apparently my faces aren’t as good as Daddy’s because mine never make you laugh. You love to sing songs and dance. I will wander upon you and find you quietly humming to yourself while rocking back and forth. When we sing our signing songs you will sign along. You love ‘Alligator Alligator’, ‘Itsy Bitsy Spider’, ‘Old McDonald’, and your very favorite ‘The Ants Go Marching’. At the end when we go Boom Boom you pound on the walls or doors while yelling boom boom.

Favorites:
Playing outside
Mommy
Piggy Back rides from Mommy
Hats
No Shirts
Bubbles
Dancing with Mommy
Playing in water

You are Mommy’s precious, wonderful little girl and I love you more than anything in the whole wide world.

Love,
Mama.

Dear Heaten Bear,

You are so much fun. So full of love and cuddles and kisses. I hope to always remember how sweet it feels to have you cuddled on my chest with your head resting next to mine. You are still very emotional. You go from happy to sad to mad to frustrated back to happy within seconds. You are becoming very particular in your wants and erupt in tantrum if I don’t figure out what it is you want in a timely manner. By timely manner I mean instantaneous. You want something, you say da meaning that and when I can’t figure out what ‘that’ is you have a tantrum. They are very frequent, but for the most part don’t last too long.

This was a big month for you. We had many, many ups and downs, and I am very happy to say that we are finally on a lasting up. Doggie caused much drama around here, but things are finally back to normal. You love your Doggie, but not as much as you love your Daddy. ALL day long you walk around saying “Daddy”. My reply is always “he is at work, he’ll be home tonight” which makes you happy. Five minutes later you say “Daddy” and it goes on and on all day. When Daddy is home you are stuck to him like glue. If he dares pay any attention to sissy you freak out and have a tantrum. You are definitely Daddy’s little boy.

Favorites:
Playing Outside
Daddy
Getting tickled
Dumping water everywhere
Copying Shenzie
Pushing the button that opens and closes the garage

You are Mommy’s precious, wonderful little boy and I love you more than anything in the whole wide world.

Love,
Mama.

Flashback Edition:

One Year Ago

Today is 08.08.08 - Pretty Cool

Oh my, where do I even begin? You all remember how Doggie bit the big one and went to heaven (or hell, depending on how you look at it)? Well, apparently Doggie is magical and came back to life! In the three weeks since Doggie died Heaten has been insane crazy. He cried at every single nap for 15-25 minutes. He cried at bedtime too, but thankfully that stopped after a week. He was fussy, crabby, crybaby (more than usual), angry, aggressive, and crazy. He would wake up at random times in the middle of the night and cry, sometimes for up to an hour. He would wake at 5am and cry. He would cry, cry, cry. And then after three VERY LONG WEEKS he FINALLY stopped crying at naps. He will still fuss now and again for a few minutes, but for the most part sleep is back on track. THANK GOD.

And then…… he found Doggie. He found one of the four Doggies in the toy bin and I let him have it. Silly, silly Mama. What in the world were you thinking?!??! If only you could have seen how happy he was to finally have Doggie back. It was so precious, his entire little face lit up. He hugged and kissed Doggie and that was that.

I’m actually ok with him having Doggie back for two reasons. First, I never wanted Doggie to go away in the first place. That was his favorite friend who brought him comfort. It was his choice to refuse the stupid thing not mine. Second, he isn’t sucking on the dogs tail any longer. He cuddles him, hugs him, kisses him, feeds him, and plays with him. He does not put Doggie in his mouth. Again THANK GOD!!!

So Baby Doggie is back and all is well in the Barr household. Can I get a Hallelujah!!!!

*Edited to add: The Doggie strike was due to the washing of the Doggie and losing the stinky, wet tail from Heaten sucking it. Now that he no longer sucks the dogs tail there is no icky smell to lose. I am rotating the dogs all of the time so the doesn’t get re-attached to just one.

Whew! I swear, teething is NOT fun no matter what the age. Poor Heaten didn’t even get his first tooth until he was one and has had a hard time with every single tooth since. No exaggeration, his four molars took almost three months to break through and come in. He cut them all at once, imagine the drama that was!!! He is FINALLY getting the rest of his front teeth. Well, I should say is starting to get the rest. He has his top two and bottom two front teeth and the two tooth next to the top front teeth finally broke through. His total teeth count….10. Ten more to go!!!!

Shenzie is finally getting her pointy ones (canine?). She has a total of 13….only 7 more to go.

Whenever my Mom tells us about how things used to be when we were little I always find it fascinating so I thought I’d give the babies an idea of what things cost in 2008.

Right now gas is ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS so this might not be a fair average to post….but I don’t see it going down anytime soon so it may even be underestimated.

Regular Octane Gas ¤ $4.00
Loaf of Organic Bread ¤ $3.99 - $4.19
Half Gallon of Rice Milk ¤ $3.99
Half Gallon of Organic Milk ¤ $3.99
Organic Yogurt One serving ¤ $.79 - $.99
Dozen Organic Eggs $3.99
Candy Bar ¤ $.59
12 pack Coke ¤ $4.00
Starbucks Grande WCM w/soy milk/add shot ¤ $5.28
In & Out Cheeseburger ¤ $1.95
Postage Stamp ¤ $.42
Pampers Size 4 (68 count) Diapers ¤ $19.99
Adult Movie Ticket ¤ $10.25
Medium Theater Popcorn ¤ $6.00
DVD (approximation) $19.99
CD (approximation) $12.99

Monthly Utilities

Average Summer Power Bill ¤ $360.00
Average Winter Power Bill ¤ $95.00
Average Winter Gas Bill ¤ $80.00
Average Summer Gas Bill ¤ $25.00
Average Cell Phone Bill ¤ $90.00
Average Cable and Internet Bill ¤ $175.00
Average Water Bill ¤ $12.00

If you have any other fun tidbits please leave them in the comments - the more the merrier. =)

Flashback to Little Lesley. Too bad my Mom didn’t save all of our old clothes, how fun would it be to dress Shenzie up in VK - Vintage Kid!

Back in the OLD OLD OLD days before we had babies Jeff and I would have date night once a week. Dinner, a movie, going to see a band play, or just hanging out. Ahhh, the sweet, sweet freedom. Somebody should have warned us to really appreciate these nights more because once you have children those nights are GONE GONE GONE. Even if you get a babysitter it is still much drama and the sweet, sweet freedom isn’t the same. Our date nights now consist of take out on Saturday night eaten while sitting around the coffee table after putting the babies to bed. We usually watch a movie or read together while cuddled on the couch (and of course I get my nightly foot rub). Ahhhh, the sweet, sweet relaxing foot rub (did I mention my hubby spoils me rotten and I love it!).

So anyway, we decided to be brave this weekend and take the babies out to dinner. The last couple of times we’ve taken them out to eat have been successful so we weren’t worried. We headed out to the library where the babies decided to play hide and seek and give Mama a heart attack. They are normally really good about holding my hands while we walk and not go running off. Not so good this time. Shenzie thought is was hilarious to run up the aisle and around the corner where I couldn’t see her. Heaten thought it was hilarious to drop to the ground and not walk at all. This ended with me picking up the crying Heaten (pretty loud in the quiet library) and running to find where Shenzie had run off to. Which led to me putting them both screaming and crying back in the (broken and ghetto) stroller and hightailing it out of there to find Daddy.

We headed home for a quick clothing change and sippy refill before our big night out on the town (hahah). Heaten was rather fussy, but this is nothing unusual. We should have taken the clue and just stayed home. We get to the restaurant where he proceeds to freak out over everything. He can’t figure out the drink with the lid and straw so he has a meltdown. He wants to eat the crayons and we won’t let him so he has a meltdown. He wants to get out of the booth and he can’t so he has a meltdown. Meanwhile Shenzie is being an Angel sitting next to me chomping away on chips and salsa. Jeff takes Crazy Heaten outside to try to calm him down. This works until he brings him back in where Heaten once again has a meltdown. There is no way we are going to be able to eat while Heaten is flailing around crying and yelling so we ask the server to please make our order to go. My anxiety level is quite high at this point and Jeff is not amused with the flailing, crazy Heaten. We just want to get out of there as quickly and quietly as possible. We get to the car where Jeff finds that I left the driver side door wide open. Don’t even ask how in the world I did that one. Sometimes I think I may have a screw or two loose. Upon getting home I find this email from Baby Center ( they send weekly emails with tips about typical toddler behavior by age).

Hello, lesley!
Don’t let typical toddler behavior keep you from enjoying an occasional meal out. You deserve a break! Some quick tips: Choose a family-friendly restaurant — any place with a kids’ menu, crayons and paper, and a din loud enough to drown out occasional squeals and whines. Take along a few small toys and plastic baggies of snack food (crackers, cubes of cheese, cut-up fruit) to keep your toddler occupied. Those diversions should buy you enough time to order and enjoy most of your meal.

So there you have it, don’t let those crazy, screaming, yelling toddlers keep you from eating your meal!

Fire Hydrant Edition:

From a mini photo shoot with the babies this week.